Improvement in grape and flower pickers



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. H. DELANO, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IowA.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAPE'AND FLOWER PICKERS.

specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 144,837, dated November25, 1873; application filed May 23, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. H. DEL- Arm, of Cedar Rapids, Lee county,Iowa, have ing an angle-plate to a flange extending at right angles fromthe face of the jaw; This construction enables the easy introduction andremoval of the rubber pad and its firm hold in the recess, asdescribedhereafter more fully explained.

Figure l is a perspective view of my improvement. Fig. 2 is aperspective view with parts of the jaws detached.

A B are the handles, that may be made of any form that will give theproper hand-hold. (lis' the pivot. D is one of the jaws, which has aflange, cl, at its rear edge to press against one side of the severedstem of the bunch or flower, the other side of the stem being pressedinto the india-rubber pad E, which is secured to the lower jaw F in thefollowing manner:

At the back edge of the jaw is a flange, f, ex-

tending at right angles to the face of the jaw, and to this flange issecured (preferably by screws, so as to render it removable) anangleplate, G. On the opposite sides of the jaw F'and plate G may bespurs g, as shown, to prevent the movement of the rubber under strain.The flange 01 may be roughened or corrugated on the inner side to holdthe stem more'securely.

If double rubber lips or pads were used the hold would be insecure,owing to the flexibility of the rubber being great in all directions,and allowing the stem to be drawn by the weight of the bunch from theholder. If both holdingsurfaces were metallic they could not be made tosuit the various sizes of stems, as the larger stems would remainunsevered, and the smaller ones would be severed before the seizure bythe holder; but with rubber on one side and metal on the other side ofthe holder, the lips take hold of any size of stem before it is severed,and yet allow the cutters to cut off the stem, even if of considerablesize. The metallic lip forms a fixed holding-surface on one side, whilethe rubber serves as a spring to hold it firmly against the rigid lip.Without the spurs g the rubber would be liableto creep out gradually.

The improvement is suitable for gathering bunches of fruit, and also forgathering flowers, particularly those of a thorny kind. I

In using the instrument, the lips first come in contact with the stem,which is pressed into the rubber more or less, according to its size,and it is then cut off by the shears and retained by the holding-lipsuntil they are again separated.

I claim as my invention- The grape and flower picker herein described,consisting of the jaw D provided with the metallic flange d,'the jaw Fprovided with the flange f, the removable angle piece G, and rubber padE, the plate G and jaw F being provided with spurs g, all combined andarranged substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

CHARLES W. H. DELANO.

Witnesses:

L. 0. Column, H. J. HARVEY.

